2/21 Season Three, Episode 22: All the World’s a Stage–Scarecrow and Mrs King

We left Amanda trying to get out of cuffs, with Lee silently watching on, and Leatherneck giving her instructions.Leatherneck: … Now just raise the lever tumblers.Amanda: Raiiiiising lever tumblers.Leatherneck: Align the gates.Amanda: Align the gates.[A close up on Lee here shows us he is enjoying this quietly.]
(He turns to look at Leatherneck)[ Ahhh how far he has come from season 1 Lee who wanted Amanda to have nothing to do with the spy biz!

I think Lee is enjoying this moment.. lol maybe he is remembering a certain time he saw Amanda get out of her cuffs already?!Whahahaha!!! Phew… it’s getting hot in here! Hoooooo Haaaa!!!!! To see that whole delightfully wicked sequence you can click HERE.
I will just pretend this all makes sense.. because if it is so hard to get out of cuffs – how did Amanda manage to do it with Lee’s belt, pervasive sexual tension, an encroaching fire, both their lives at stake and no training in Double Agent? tee hee!
Whatev! I’m sure glad we got that moment 😉
Okay Okay.. focus iwsod.. get back to the Q bureau.. back to Amanda trying to learn to pick open her cuffs..]Leatherneck: And release the bolt.Amanda: Release….the….bolt!Click!Leatherneck: All right,…… Mrs King! [Keep your eyes on Lee here (as if you wouldn’t right?!)– he is totally impressed!! This supportive Lee is super swoony no?!]Lee: (chuckles)Well!Leatherneck: …You did it! Good for you…..Took Ace here about oh 6 weeks…[lol Lee’s reaction is priceless.. yeah yeah.. moving on!]…before he could Houdini himself outta those.Lee: ahhhhh!!!Amanda: Really!Lee: The old Entry and Escape course huh? Some things never change.[Some things change a lot. Lee copes reasonably well with the good natured ribbing.. and being bested by Amanda! ]Leatherneck: Until they phase out doors with locks… [LOL at all the random door knobs on the desk. Oh wait. Is that a desk for Amanda? that’s not been there before.. has it? or is that just there for Leatherneck? It seems kinda small.. I guess we’ll have to wait and see]…Look, uh, I gotta go. I’m gonna leave this kit with you, Mrs King.Amanda: Oh thank you, Leatherneck.Leatherneck: Study on these other locks here.Amanda: I will.[why do I have delightful visions of Lee cuffing Amanda and having fun ahem.. keep it PG iwsod.. keep it PG.. or umm locking her in a room and having fun with her trying to work the lock.. Wait- Is that PG? Phew.. Yep. Just checking
When has Amanda been cuffed previously?
well.. yeah there’s the end of Double Agent (Take your belt off!), and Triumvirate that come to mind – I think both times it was only one hand they cuffed.. Help me out guys.. any other times? ]Leatherneck: Give me a call if you get stuck, ok? …Figuratively or otherwise.[Lee shakes his head… something tells me this is an old and worn out gag!]Amanda: Ah ha ha.[Amanda laughs. good job Amanda. Laugh for the teacher who will be grading you! Amanda may want to put Leatherneck on speed dial so she doesn’t have to call him with her hands trapped behind her back 😉 ]Leatherneck: OK. Bye-bye.Lee : See you later. [Leatherneck exits stage left]Amanda: So what’s up?(Amanda continues to work on the other cuff while Lee responds)Lee: Well, Billy wants to see us down in the bullpen, that is……unless you’re still…tied up?[Amanda releases the other cuff – she’s no longer ‘tied up’]Amanda: Nope,.. (she removes the other cuff)[I suspect the implication here is that she is actually extremely talented at uncuffing herself- could Amanda’s code name be….. Houdini?]….I’m available.[whooo great sound bite! She’s available! So claim her already Lee!]Lee: (Lee chuckles)……Let’s go, come on.Amanda puts the cuffs down, and Lee heads to the door to open it for her (awh!). Lee is being a gentleman

Anyone else thinking Lee is mighty impressed by Amanda here? And.. I could even say.. proud? I get the impression Amanda doesn’t quite realise what she’s achieving with those cuffs.. but I do have visions of Jamie and Phillip’s school projects being about the origins of the police force and the first hand cuffs ever used on bad guys or something.

We move on to see what Billy wants.. we find Lee, Amanda and Billy walking down the hallway toward the bullpen. Billy: I’m not exactly sure what we’ve got here, but one of our contacts inside the Soviet Embassy, managed to photocopy several pages of this script by Tony Martinet.[why is Amanda holding such a tiny piece of paper?]Lee: Parisian Intrigue?Amanda: Yeah, he was hot a couple of years ago, some critics compared him to Edward Albee.Lee: Huh. I didn’t know you were such a drama buff. [My goodness Lee, there’s a lot you don’t know about Amanda ]Amanda: Well, actually I had a professor at UVA that got me interested. He loved Martinet; he had us read all his plays, and I was even in a performance that the drama club put on.[I love how Lee just soaks up this new information, and looks so happy to learn more about Amanda, and he enjoys hearing of her interests and history! A very attractive quality!]Billy: And that’s precisely why I thought you might help us figure out why the Russians are interested in this.[Whooo Billy knows stuff about Amanda that Lee doesn’t. That’s quite a detailed dossier the agency collects on it’s ‘civilian auxiliary’ – iwsod tries hard to stop grinding teeth.]
(Billy hands Amanda a file)Amanda: Yeah, someone’s made some notes in the margin.(Amanda holds the file so Lee can look also)Lee: Hmm , a lot of dialogue changes. Someone didn’t like Martinet’s words…… He tried to change it to…(The shot zooms in on the Russian notes handwritten)… “You look sad tonight; the crystal dew drops of dashed dreams insult your eyes?”[ROFL! It’s insulting my ears! – so when Petrovich was speaking with Nadine, Lee understood everything? Hmmm..]Amanda: Oh come on, that’s not Martinet![That’s Shakespeare! (not!)]Billy: But what is? A deep background check on the man will take several days. His career took a nosedive in the late seventies, and since then there hasn’t been even a scratch on his file. [Ahhh the days before Google! ]Amanda: It’s too bad, people thought he had a lot of talent.Lee:Well someone still does. According to this he’s directing the world premiere of Parisian Intrigue at a Georgetown theatre. Opens Friday.[Ah so that little piece of paper was an ad. got it!
Oh Lee is wearing that tie again! I love this tie.. can’t tell you what ep it was in previously.. where is tie patrol when I need it? – miss ya KC! ]
Francine enters the office.GAH!!!! Everyone hide! Protect your eyes!!! And get ready to see what Francine is wearing today – in our next post!!! yep, going to pause here for a moment!

I look forward to the day Amanda actually uses this new Houdini skills in the field. Knowing smk, I don’t think I’ll have to wait too long (unlike the wait for a Lee and Amanda kiss!). Can’t wait to hear from ya!

31 responses to “2/21 Season Three, Episode 22: All the World’s a Stage–Scarecrow and Mrs King”

“Raiiiiising lever tumblers.” Yet another line I’ll never forget hearing the first time – it was torture listening to this episode and not being able to see what was really happening!

Lee and Amanda are really looking good here! Is it just me or does this episode have a definite different feel than all the others before it? Lee definitely seems very proud of Amanda and impressed with her ability with lock picking. And Billy wants to see both of them in the bullpen, and Lee doesn’t seem to know why!! That is a first! That says to me that Billy is definitely treating Amanda as an equal member of the team.

As an aside, I have no idea who Edward Albee is. Nor do I care.

And although I do love this episode, this is one mighty huge coincidence that Amanda just happens to be very familiar with the playwright that has ties to the Soviets. And how long has it been since Amanda’s been in college? How does she know that the rewrite is “not Martinet”?? That line always makes me roll my eyes.

It is wonderful to see how proud Lee is of Amanda and well she is doing with her training. She is very talented and it’s wonderful to see him recognizing and relishing that finally.

I think you could argue that there is a possibility that Amanda mentioned her theater background at a time during first or second season when Lee wasn’t paying as close of attention to what she was saying. In that first season, I think Billy was listening more closely to Amanda than Lee was–maybe keeping an ear out for background that might prove helpful for future covers or cases. It’s the only way that I can justify that Lee wouldn’t know.

She probably put the theater work on her job application as additional activities (non-work related) and because she enjoyed it. I interned for a NYC radio station and kept putting that on my applications and resumes. If anything, I’d get asked about it during the interview and the work was interesting.

Billy has always been used to give voice to Amanda’s potential value in the spy business, even if only as a “guest.” Lee was often openly resistant to her involvement, sometimes mildly resistant, and then during season three it is literally like the light turns on and he finally sees what Billy saw all along and he fully embraces her involvement. I really love the turnaround. In the beginning of the series, during briefings, Amanda was often focused on Lee while Lee was focused primarily on the work. Now, Amanda is laser focused on the work while Lee focuses ever bit as much on her as he does the work. He has such confidence in her, and more importantly, no longer tries to hide it. All is falling into place, professionally and personally speaking.

Sooo Swoony Katjielee!!! I love this!!! sigh
I find Lee’s embrace of Amanda’s professional side to be an extremely attractive quality – and this part of their story really resonates with me – so I especially enjoyed this comment!

I’m just going to pretend that I don’t see that stupid badge, but I do like the fact that Amanda continues to step up her skills and it lets you know that she is continuing to move forward in becoming an agent.

I love all of Lee’s reactions to these little surprises about Amanda. It’s like it reinforces what he feels about her and who she is. He’s impressed as well as showing adoration. Lovely combination on him. I also like how Lee says, “Billy wants to see us.” Love the “us”. They truly are partners now.

It’s nice to move from the darkness of that Russian meeting room to the lightness of the Q Bureau.

Just a few more episodes now for that quest pass badge…but really in all security sense it does seem like after the first week they would have had a picture ID made for her with maybe Civilian Auxilliary entitled on it.

Yes! Lee is proud! and personally invested in everything Amanda, from her skills at picking locks to her drama experience. It is lovely to see. And I am sure that her comment about being available is registering with Lee. Not sure what he would do about it. I wonder if he was hoping for some alone time with Amanda when he walked into the office that morning. Or maybe he was the one who set up the lesson with Leatherneck. I just get the feeling that Lee is biding his time until he can pick up where he left off at the end of Dead men. I wonder what Amanda is thinking? I am sure they are both very aware of each other in each moment.

I don’t think that is Amanda’s desk. It is kind of small. I guess we will really know if it is still there in any follow up Q Bureau scenes.

LOL I like the idea of Lee being sick of the guest pass 😉
But as I just wrote to morley I like the thought that Amanda is making progress that is completely independent of Lee..
Soooo Lee is sick of the guest pass, but not actively involved in getting rid of it I guess lol! 🙂

And I am sure that her comment about being available is registering with Lee.

yeah!!! I too think a line like that would be noticed by Lee 😉

Or maybe he was the one who set up the lesson with Leatherneck.

Interesting idea! Or maybe Amanda told Lee she was having training and asked if it was okay for her to commandeer the Q bureau for a few hours that day or something.
I prefer Lee was not instrumental in this training taking place – I like for Amanda to make progress independent of Lee.

I just get the feeling that Lee is biding his time until he can pick up where he left off at the end of Dead men.

I agree! They tried her place when they should have had alone time, but were interrupted.. soooo seems like Lee is going to need to find another location! Aha! the Q bureau! Maybe that’s his plan.. we’ll keep watching and see if Lee has a plan and what it is 🙂 squeeeee..
But yet I agree that Lee, the spy he is, will be planning something!

I wonder what Amanda is thinking?

Ahhh you pose interesting questions! For me, I see Amanda at this point thinking she is enjoying this stage in their relationship, she seems to me quite serene and contended waiting for Lee to step up and lead- and take the next step. I don’t see her as frustrated or wanting to rush Lee- I don’t think she thinks she needs to after DMLNT 🙂 but this is just my own vibe and I think the show leaves us all plenty of space to fill in the gaps in terms of what Amanda is thinking right now.
I see her as focused on work progress, and confident things with Lee will work out, so she isn’t obsessing about it 😉

Oh my yes, morley, they are very aware of each other at all times. I think you’re exactly right about Lee biding his time. I imagine Amanda is confident and excited about her life right now and content, mostly, to wait for Lee to proceed at his own pace because now she KNOWS he is interested. Personally, I would have been chomping at the bit.

I think that there is a very upbeat feel to this episode together with the hint that something that is simmering will come to the boil. (Which makes me think it should come after DMLNT).
Nothing not to like (i will give the parachute skirt a pass).
Such a big change to the beginning of this season and in particular to TOTDW when the Q bureau was introduced (which still makes me think of the X zfiles)

I have often wished there was a JWWM & iswod for the X-Files. There must be something to the SMK/X-Files thing, since they are my 2 favorites that I can watch over & over again. Possibly the dynamic of the man & woman partner with completely different skill sets.

It’s so funny watching the screen caps of congratulatory Lee when Amanda succeeds in getting out of the handcuffs. He looks like a parent of a toddler who’s used the potty correctly the first time – very exaggeratedly encouraging and affirming 😀

“You look sad tonight; the crystal dew drops of dashed dreams insult your eyes?” Gag. Sounds like the dialogue in a bad 21st century self-published novel 😦
I would hope that a playwright studied at university level could do a bit better than this. That being said, it’s great to see Amanda’s expertise come to the fore in solving a case. And for once it’s not about her knowledge of domestic matters or being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

seriously though, Billy chose Amanda because of her drama background. I bet that application made her nominate every play she had ever performed in haaaaa..
Err now I think about it – maybe that is possible and not a bad thing, because what if she had performed in some pro communist play and it was a ‘red’ flag?

LOL Lee the proud err work papa! In season 1, I never thought I’d see the day!

I would hope that a playwright studied at university level could do a bit better than this.

Yep! I think that’s the point Amanda is making – it’s so bad it can’t be right.
and btw I’m relieved I can see the difference between normal smk dialogue and this drivel (which is suppose to be drivel) – phew.. 🙂

That being said, it’s great to see Amanda’s expertise come to the fore in solving a case. And for once it’s not about her knowledge of domestic matters or being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Oh yeah!!! I really like this!! Billy chose Amanda based on her expertise and background. And yes! the expertise is more than just her domestic or suburban skills! And rofl no coincidental being dinged by a top ten in the world suppose to be dead assassin! 🙂 So glad you pointed this out Learjet, Now I have this plot even more!

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